


From the Ashes

by antigrav_vector



Series: CapIM bingo fills - 2016 [22]
Category: Iron Man (Comic), Iron Man Noir, Marvel Noir, The Avengers - Ambiguous Fandom
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Cap_Ironman Bingo, Gen, Identity Porn, Mission Fic, Protective Urges, Protectiveness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-03
Updated: 2016-07-03
Packaged: 2018-07-19 20:18:57
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,682
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7375969
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/antigrav_vector/pseuds/antigrav_vector
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Having successfully infiltrated the base with Iron Man, Captain America must work closely with him to accomplish their mission: find the cosmic cube and escape with it.</p>
<p>Sounds simple, doesn't it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	From the Ashes

**Author's Note:**

> Stony bingo fill for the picture prompt: 
> 
> Unbeta'ed. Please forgive any typos.

In the end, they hadn't had to search long.

It had been a stroke of pure luck, but they'd landed on the building just west of the center of the large sprawling Ordinance Engineering Center of Peenemünde Army Research Center[1], and Iron Man's sensors had immediately picked up a spiking energy signal roughly below them that he couldn't readily identify.

They'd broken in through a roof access door, and taken the stairs down to the correct floor, based on Iron Man's sensor readings. Thankfully, they'd met no one.

The building, at four am, local time, was also empty, save for a few guards making their nightly rounds every so often.

No, the trouble had started when they'd entered the room with the cube and Iron Man had made a strangled sound in the back of his throat before slowly collapsing to his knees with a clatter of metal armour.

"Iron Man," Steve hissed quietly at him. "Iron Man! Are you alright?"

"I--" Iron Man choked out. "I'm not--" he broke off to pant for air for a moment. "Not sure?"

That wasn't reassuring at all. Steve went down on one knee beside him, doing what he could to check the man over through the armour. All seemed as before to Steve's senses, save that the smell of omega was strengthening. "What's wrong?"

Steve felt almost dizzy with it. He wanted to strip the armour off Iron Man then and there, and his own uniform, to boot, just to that he could feel bare skin against his own. It took more effort to hold back than he'd expected. Oddly, it felt like there was some presence in the room encouraging them to do just that.

"I've got to get out of here," Iron Man choked out. He sounded caught between want and panic.

"Let's get the cube," Steve tried to soothe him, "then we can blast our way out, if we have to."

"Cap," Iron Man forced out, "I--"

"It'll be okay," Steve promised him, somehow knowing Iron Man needed the reassurance. It was like he could almost feel the strain Iron Man was under.

"Cap, I can't--" Iron Man broke off, and the frustration he felt came through clearly despite the near expressionless faceplate of the armour he wore. "I'm not sure I'll be able to take the stairs back up," he gritted out, each successive word seeming like a hard-won victory.

"Iron Man," Steve wished he could take the man's chin and tilt his face up until their eyes met, "I said it'll be okay, and I meant it. Even if I have to haul you out of here over my shoulder, armour and all."

"That's--" Iron Man sounded dazed, now. "That's an..." Steve would have sworn he heard Iron Man literally swallow back some emotion before he finished the thought, "an option?"

"Not the one I'd prefer, but yes." Steve stood, and turned back to the cube, fighting all the instincts that told him he should be staying glued to Iron Man's side. They'd wasted enough time.

A glance around the room revealed no conveniently cube-shaped containers.

"Iron Man," he asked, eyeing the cube warily, "you got any intel on how this thing needs to be handled?"

"It can't--" Iron Man broke off again, clearly struggling under the influence of the cube. "-- can't touch bare skin. Or--"

Steve nodded. "Got it."

This time his glance around the room caught on an abandoned lab coat, and he couldn't help smirking at the mild irony. Throwing it over his gloved hand as he reached for the cube, Steve picked up the cube. It felt oddly warm, even through the multiple layers of cloth and leather he wore.

Bundling the thing up in the lab coat muffled the glow and sensation of warmth and pleased acceptance, though it didn't cut them off entirely. It implied that the cube was influencing their feelings, but now wasn't the time to worry about that. Tucking the bundle under his arm, Steve strode back over and half-helped-half-hauled Iron Man to his feet.

The move made Iron Man groan, pained now. Steve frowned. It was pretty obviously proximity to the cube that was making Iron Man feel off. But, Steve wondered, why wasn't that affecting him at all? He felt normal. Almost better than normal.

Most of all, though, he wanted Iron Man.

Shaking off the thought, Steve put his free arm around Iron Man's waist and grabbed a hold of his hip, Steve steering them both out of the room.

Somewhat predictably, they were discovered moments later. A pair of guards happened to change their patrol route just enough to catch sight of them, and that was that. Alarms began sounding throughout the Research Center.

"Damn it," Iron Man muttered, sounding a little steadier. "Just what we didn't need."

"Well," Steve replied, as he hustled Iron Man around a corner toward the stairwell they'd come from earlier, "it was going a little too smoothly for my taste, anyway. Come on."

The comment startled a laugh out of Iron Man, and Steve couldn't help the satisfied smirk and the slight glow in his chest at the sound.

Another patrol came from above them, hurrying down toward their last known position, and Steve winced. They were in for a fight now.

Iron Man pulled away from his side, wavering for a long moment before he found his balance again, and Steve had to force himself to focus on the enemies bearing down on them.

He stepped behind Iron Man's bulk for a moment and stuffed the wrapped cube into the small backpack of supplies he carried under his shield. He would need his hands free in a moment. Finished none too soon, Steve heard the first few bullets ricochet off Iron Man's armour as he slid his shield onto his arm and darted forward towards the patrol.

A startled shout went up. "Der Kapitän Amerika ist da![2]"

After that, he had his hands full, as all of the men in the patrol focused their fire on him rather than Iron Man. Apparently he made the better target. Steve couldn't blame them; he'd have come to the same conclusion.

The fight didn't last long, after that. An almost enraged shout came from Iron Man, and then there was fire everywhere. It took Steve several long seconds to work out that it had come from flamethrowers concealed in Iron Man's armour, and that the rage had been on his behalf.

By the time he'd refocused on the fight, Iron Man had driven them all off, and everything flammable in the stairwell was merrily burning. The smoke was going to make breathing difficult soon, Steve noted, and stepped back over to Iron Man.

He didn't haul the armour over his shoulder as he'd threatened to, but he did pull one of the armour's arms over his shoulders and half-carry Iron Man up through the rest of the burning stairwell to the roof.

"Come on, Iron Man," he cajoled, "work with me, here. We need to get back to the boat. Before the rest of the base comes after us."

Steve could see the headlights of several vehicles approaching, doubtless carrying a lot more soldiers, from the military camp down the road.

"I--" Iron Man seemed to be feeling even less coherent, now, his earlier improvement suddenly washed away again.

Steve stepped up to him, positioning himself as he'd been instructed for the short flight from the boat to the Research Center. "I trust you," he said, wishing he could hold Iron Man's eyes as he did to prove his sincerity.

It seemed to work anyway. Iron Man nodded, the movement jerky, and carefully arranged himself around Steve. It was a much more protective action than before, and Steve found that it didn't bother him whatsoever. Rather the opposite, if anything. It satisfied some need deep in his psyche that he hadn't realised was there until now.

Before taking off, Iron Man took advantage of his flamethrowers to set a few more fires to distract their pursuit.

Then, as the first shouts started echoing up through the stairwell, they were airborne. The flight was much more tentative and halting than the first had been, and Steve couldn't help but worry over Iron Man. He'd all but carried Iron Man through the building minutes ago, and now Steve was forced to tax him more for their escape from the base.

Steve really didn't like the situation. Not at all.

The moment they were back on the boat, he intended to see if he could pry Iron Man out of the armour he wore and deal with any injuries -- physical or mental.

The wind in his face soon eased the stress lines he was sure had appeared at the corners of his eyes and mouth, making him squint to try to make out where the boat was, instead.

As they approached, a red lantern came on, and Steve distantly made out the echoes of some radio communications resonating inside Iron Man's helmet. Their boat's captain guiding them in, no doubt.

They landed gently on the rocking deck, and the lantern was immediately shielded again. Their captain turned and did his best to hustle them down into the tiny cabin below-decks before Steve had had a chance to do more than straighten and step away from Iron Man. "Quick," he hissed at them, "before they turn on the spotlights!"

Steve nodded. A boat with an empty deck would still be suspect, but far less so than if they were standing in plain sight, distinctive as their appearances were. "Iron Man," he prompted, putting a hand on the armour's shoulder and pushing gently, "let's go."

Iron Man acceded, moving almost mechanically.

Steve watched him carefully and renewed his resolution to do what he could to help the man hidden inside that armour.

Once they were out of sight.

\------------------

[1] Borrowed, as in the prequel, from [this website](http://heroicrelics.org/info/v-2/peenemunde-maps.html) and edited by me. Map of the Ordinance Engineering center (see inset):  


[2] Translation: "Captain America is here!"


End file.
